GM Plant Finally Closes.

[Keith]

General Motors plant closes leaving thousands jobless

By The Associated Press
Some workers brought cameras to General Motors Corp.'s Oklahoma plant to take photographs of their work stations and co-workers before the last vehicle rolled off the line Monday, photos that will become treasured keepsakes in scrapbooks.

Others just brought their sadness.

"It's a rough day," said GM spokeswoman Nancy Sarpolis in Detroit. "It's hard to see your co-workers go."

After 27 years, the last vehicle produced at the plant, a white Chevrolet Trailblazer EXT, rolled out Monday evening as GM shut down production in the first of 12 facilities the company plans to close by 2008 as it struggles to match production with market demand.

Detroit-based GM plans to cut 30,000 jobs. The Oklahoma City plant employs 2,400 _ 2,200 hourly and 200 salaried _ but economists said as many as 7,500 jobs could be affected including those at GM suppliers and secondary jobs, like hotel and restaurant workers.

"It's obviously a sad day for the state of Oklahoma," said Mike Seney, senior vice president of The State Chamber, a statewide business and industry group.

Gov. Brad Henry said the state will help displaced employees and their families find new jobs through job assistance, retraining and educational opportunities.

Some plant workers are mulling retirement and others will enroll in GM's Jobs Bank, which allows workers to collect full pay and benefits as they attend classes or volunteer at community agencies, Sarpolis said.

Some workers will continue be paid through September 2007, when GM's UAW contract expires.

[Curt]

Sad news indeed, I really hate to hear things like this.

[Patrick]

The Union is going to continue to fight to build another vehicle here. One of the vehicles mentioned has been the Chevy Camaro. It's rear wheel drive. I wouldn't bet any money on it....I don't think they'll reopen the GM plant, but I'd sure like to see it reopen and produce something else. Camaro would be great....would definitely give us some stability and keep the plant open.

[Curt]

I really hope they can keep the plant open afterall. They did decide to keep one of ours open here, the GM Truck plant in Pontiac, and hire 300 more people I heard.

[Patrick]

They're going to need to find a place to build Cameros. We already have experience with a rear wheel drive frame, so huge adjustments wouldn't have to made to the line. Plus I think it would give us some plant security for the future. We also have low cost of living and lower wages to consider. Still, until I see anything, our plant is considered closed.

[Oki_Man5]

Do you reckon there could have been the thoughts that the Oklahoma Industrial Authority lured GM to build the plant with the agreement that there would not be any ad valorem taxes levied on the plant while GM was paying for it, and the company had in mind that when if finally broke even, it would get even by closing the plant?

The Oklahoma Industrial Authority should have done its homework back then and found out it did not have the authority to override the Oklahoma Constitution.